EDC means “every day carry” so it’s basically about stuff you have on you most of the time.

But why even bother about things you carry around anyway? There are are several reasons why people like to think and plan about their EDC. The reasons differ and they depend on what sort of stuff you count in.

To me there are several categories of EDC gear.

• The obvious things like keys, wallet, smartphone
• The useful things like pocket knife, flashlight, dog poop bags, tissue, lip balm
• The first aid kit like gloves, wound dressings
• The emergency kit like pepper spray, kubotan, glass breaker
• The survival kit like firestarter, emergency blanket, water purification tablets
• The fun stuff like hanks, challenge coins, beard comb

If you put all these categories in one pot you get a list of things which might come handy or important. But what ultimately makes things EDC-worthy is if they are useful enough so you don’t mind carrying them all the time. Useful can mean either it’s very likely that you will need them (your keys, tissue, a small bandaid) or it’s very helpful to have them even if you only need them once in your life (like a tourniquet you can use to stop the bleeding when someones limb got ripped off). This does not mean that you have to carry items from each of the categories above. Go for the ones that are really useful to you.

In other words: Choose things which might be worth the extra weight and bulk in your pants or bag.

The reason why I want to dedicate quite a big part of this site to EDC gear is because I really believe you can benefit from thinking and planning about your kit. There are things you might want to have which are not as obviuos as others. And, first of all, it’s hobby that can be great fun besides being useful.

There’s the “level” approach which splits your EDC in things you carry around all the time, things you have in your bag, things you have in your car and so on. An article at ITSTactical gives more insight.

Two extra things to consider:

• In recent years for some people EDC made a bit of a shift in meaning. Some people call EDC things that are nice to have and have at least some sort of theoretical use. The main focus is to show that you’re part of your community and that you like nice stuff. Examples are flashlights out of special materials like copper or titanium, hanks or bottle openers which resemble some funny animal and are made of brass or copper.
• Lots of people build their EDC kit once and go with it. There’s not much changing over the years. This has the benefit that you get used to your kit and really know how to use it if you need it. On the other hand there are enthusiasts who collect the bits and pieces that make EDC kits and change their setup once in a while. This may lead to optimization but most of all it’s fun.

In the next upcoming posts I’ll show you my personal EDC setup and give some hints on building your own.